Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced Tuesday evening that Dutch representatives at the International Support Center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat will be expelled within a week, following a series of anti-Israel moves by the Dutch government, including legislation banning trade with Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced on Tuesday that Dutch representatives working at the International Support Center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat must leave Israel within a week. The move follows what Sa'ar described as a series of anti-Israel steps by the Dutch government, culminating in legislation that will ban trade with Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, set to take effect next month.
Sa'ar said he consulted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before making the decision, and that the Dutch embassy in Israel and American officials have been notified. The expulsion targets the Dutch staff at the center, a facility that coordinates international civilian aid to Gaza. No details were provided on how the expulsion will affect the center's operations.
The decision escalates a diplomatic rift that has been unfolding for weeks. As The Zioneer reported in July, the Dutch government formally approved a ban on imports from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, effective September. Dutch Christian groups and opposition leader Geert Wilders have criticized the law. Israel's response marks one of the harshest retaliatory measures taken against a European ally over the settlement trade dispute.
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